Charlotte Residents Invited to Discuss $3.2B I-77 Express Lanes Project
Builders would reconstruct interchanges and bridges that aren’t interchanges, plus they’d create access points and direct connectors leading to the express lanes.
Toll lanes would stretch from the South Carolina state line all the way to I-277/N.C. 16 in Uptown Charlotte.
Image Courtesy NCDOTTwo public meetings will happen in November, as the N.C. Department of Transportation and N.C. Turnpike Authority want to talk about adding express lanes to 11 miles of Interstate 77 in south Charlotte. Toll lanes would stretch from the South Carolina state line all the way to I-277/N.C. 16 in Uptown Charlotte.
This project costs $3.2 billion. Division Engineer Brett Canipe said it's the priciest one in NCDOT history. Builders would reconstruct interchanges and bridges that aren't interchanges, plus they'd create access points and direct connectors leading to the express lanes.
State law says toll projects need approval from the local planning organization. Back in 2014, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization sent this project to NCDOT for prioritization.
I-77 acts as a key route. Charlotte and the southeastern United States depend on it to move people and goods. The highway gives direct access to Uptown for residents and businesses. Travel times on this stretch? They swing wildly—from 10 minutes to nearly an hour—depending on when you're driving and which way you're headed.
In October 2024, CRTPO asked NCDOT to move ahead with a public-private partnership. They also wanted a working group to identify project priorities, which include optimizing use of express lanes and general-purpose lanes with toll rate caps, encouraging a competitive procurement process, increasing transparency during all project phases, and providing transit benefits.
Since January, NCDOT has shared information about the I-77 South Express Lanes project at 25 small group meetings in local communities. The two upcoming public meetings will give community members the chance to ask questions and learn about how the project develops.
The first meeting happens Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Innovation Center at Johnson C. Smith University, Room 322. The second one is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Silver Mount Baptist Church, 501 W. Arrowood Road, Charlotte.
The project remains in the planning and design stage. When will construction start? That hasn't been determined yet. More information about the I-77 South Express Lanes project is available on the NCDOT website.
